Jumping to Conclusions
by delypanda
Summary: "Shun-san.. Haru-san.." Kakeru's tone became increasingly grave. "There were photos of a girl in Hajime-san's phone. Many. Photos."


"Haru-san?"

"Mm, what is it?"

"Does Hajime-san have.. have.."

"Have what?" By this point, Haru had stopped typing on his laptop, giving his full attention to the younger. There was obviously something that Kakeru was struggling to say and the other teens fidgeting not far off behind were looking suspiciously eager to hear the conversation. Furthermore, the topic was about _Hajime_. Now, his interest was piqued. Just what did Kakeru want to know that was giving him such a hard time in voicing it out?

"A GIRLFRIEND!"

Kakeru had ended up shouting after his pathetic efforts resulted in stammering. "Does Hajime-san have a girlfriend!"

"E-eh?" Haru could only stare blankly at Kakeru. His question was so absurd and out of the blue that he had no idea how to reply. Should he even ask how that topic came about? Anyway, he didn't think Hajime had a girlfriend with how busy their lives as idols were but if he had, Hajime would have at least told him, right? After all, he could safely say that the two of them were closest among the Six Gravity members. "Kakeru, I don't think-"

It seems that after getting past the hurdle of bringing up the topic, Kakeru no longer felt nervous and figuratively speaking, the dam had broken. His explanation came out in a jumble of words, as though it was rushing to come out all at once, totally ignoring and cutting off Haru.

"I mean! I mean! Don't you think so too?!"

Now that Haru thought about it, he had never really paid much attention to Hajime's mannerisms but Hajime's actions could lead to that kind of conclusion. Hajime is the type of person that gives his all in all he does so he has a really serious and hardworking attitude towards his work. He usually only checks his messages and voicemails but Haru has come to notice that there are times when Hajime replies the messages and even excuses himself to call back. He smiles that soft smile that he doesn't give to just anyone - the kind of smile that would immediately cause fangirls to swoon - when he texts, he excuses himself with _that_ smile when he gets a call, stares at his phone with _that_ smile..

"A-and! Just now this morning!" Ah, so Kakeru still hadn't stopped rambling yet. "He got a call and then he went out saying he had a non-work-related appointment! And! The other day, when he was using his phone, I saw something! There were _photos_."

"Oh? What kind of photos?"

"Uwah! Shun-san?!" Kakeru jumped in shock at his sudden appearance.

"Shun, what are you doing here?"

"I was coming to look for Hajime but I heard a lot of yelling so I came to see what's going on. So? What's this about Hajime's phone?"

Haru could only mentally face-palm at Shun's smile. Shun seemed to have some kind of uncanny radar for all matters related to Hajime. The moment that Hajime was mentioned, Shun could be expected to turn up as well. It appears that the rumour of Shun dabbling in black magic was not entirely unfounded after all.

"Shun-san.. Haru-san.." Kakeru's tone became increasingly filled with dread. "There were photos of a _girl_ in Hajime-san's phone. _Many_. _Photos_."

"What!?"

* * *

 **Operation: Find Out Who's Hajime's Girlfriend!**

 _Step 1: Find out Hajime's location!_

With a sigh of exasperation, Haru dialled Hajime. Somehow, the duty of calling Hajime had fallen on him without much discussion. After all, wasn't Haru the 'mum' of the group? It would be entirely plausible to call and ask for his whereabouts. Haru didn't have much to argue against this logic. He couldn't deny that he tended to mother the group, especially since he was one of the oldest. Honestly, just what did he do in his past life to have to deal with this bunch?

It also kind of seemed like the number of people huddled around him, with eyes full of excitement and anticipation, had increased. Ah, Shun had called over the rest of the Procellarum members too. Were they really that curious about Hajime's possible girlfriend? Well, Haru could understand that it was interesting because it was so unexpected for the only-focused-on-work leader to have romantic relations with a girl. They were all guys too and so, it wasn't unusual that one of them having a girlfriend would result in being the focus of all their attention. Also, it would be a lie if Haru said that he didn't want to know more about this person Hajime was continuously replying to and meeting with.

"Haru? What's up?"

"Hajime, where are you?"

"Outside, why? Is something wrong?"

At that, everybody felt like giving their usually admired leader a smack. They had all shuffled closer to Haru in order to better hear the conversation, ears perked and tense, waiting for Hajime's answer, only to have cold water splashed on them by his vague and obvious reply. Of course they knew he was outside! They wanted to know just exactly _where_ he was, and with _who_.

But then, Koi thought, if the answer was so easily given, then it wouldn't be any fun for a detective! Hajime is indeed an excellent choice of subject for an investigation! Now, if only Haru could probe further for a more precise location..

"No, nothing much.. I thought you had an off day today, but I couldn't find you. Did some work pop up?"

"No, I'm free. We don't have any schedules today."

"Oh, then where are you?"

"Hmm, just walking around the town area."

"Do you want to meet up? I've been thinking about visiting this shop, supposedly they sell the best buns. The kids would probably like it if we bought some for them."

Koi flashed Haru a thumbs up. If Hajime refused such a valid-sounding reason to meet up, then there was definitely a concrete reason to believe that Hajime was hiding something from them! Which was possibly a girlfriend!

"…"

Everyone's expressions froze. _Hajime didn't want to meet up with Haru!_

"Hajime?"

"Ah, about that.. No, it's alright. I'll see you back at the dorm later, Haru."

 _Click._

Everyone donned an expression of horror. _There's definitely something fishy going on!_

Hajime had never hung up on Haru before and it was glaringly obvious that Hajime wasn't alone and that he absolutely didn't want Haru to see who his companion is. He didn't even give Haru a chance to reply before he cut the call. But at least they found out his location. Operation Stalk Hajime was clear to go!

* * *

 _Step 2: Disguising to avoid detection! (Or just for the fun of it..?)_

It was a mess. Figuratively and literally speaking. The room looked as though a tornado had blown through and people were running back and forth flinging clothes everywhere they went. Coats, hats, sunglasses and face masks were being brought out from all over the place as well. _Since when did they have so many?_ Haru couldn't help but think.

Kai could only helplessly sigh and smile at Haru with the feel of two single fathers bonding over their rambunctious children who just caused trouble. It felt as though they two were the only responsible and mature ones in the room. Despite being the leader, Shun was unsurprisingly no help in controlling the situation, merely elegantly sitting on the couch and observing the others, occasionally throwing in compliments or criticism regarding their choice of outfit. Even the normally more emotionally reserved kids like Arata and Rui were getting involved in the dressing up, albeit in a quieter and calmer way.

"Do we really have to go to this extent? I mean, what if we just asked Hajime directly?" Kai asked Haru, ignoring the yelling from Koi as You unceremoniously jammed a pair of sunglasses onto his face, nearly poking out Koi's eye, and the resulting scuffle.

"Hajime probably wouldn't give a straight reply. His whole attitude screamed 'secretive' just now." Haru gave him a wry smile. "If we want an answer, we'll have to get it ourselves." But he couldn't deny that the heavy feeling in his chest at the thought of Hajime hiding things from him.

"We're done!"

"…"

"Are you sure this is camouflaging?"

"I'm pretty sure a bunch of guys dressed up like Sherlock Holmes does not count as blending in."

* * *

 _Step 3: Stalk Hajime! Go!_

Haru never thought that this would be how he would be spending his time today. Peeking at a couple being lovey-dovey on their date while hiding behind the decorative potted plants was definitely not how he thought his rare off day would go. But, the detective effort in trying to find out one of the ever mysterious Hajime's secrets is utterly irresistible!

Surprisingly, it was not as difficult as Haru expected to find Hajime. Even with Hajime's disguise - which was more realistic; being just sunglasses and a hat - and the trouble he and Kai had trying to drill the concept of blending in into the bunch of teens behind him pulling out the spy moves like they were acting in an action movie, they had spotted Hajime and his female companion out of the crowd quite quickly. Of course, Shun had credited their find to his supernatural Hajime radar. But the truth was, Iku had wanted ice cream and they had coincidentally bumped the duo at the ice cream shop. Haru and Kai had had to pull the others - as oblivious as ever in their argument about which ice cream flavor they thought was the best - along to scramble for cover so as to avoid being discovered.

"Wow, just look at that!" You whistled.

"She's pretty!"

"I've never seen Hajime-san smile like that before.. Is that the look of a man in love?"

"Ah, can't you tell by the way I look at Hajime?"

"Shun-san, this isn't the time for you to declare your love for Hajime-san.." Koi trailed off into a mumble under his breath. "And I don't know nor do I really want to know how you look at Hajime-san anyway."

"They look good together."

"Yeah, don't they? She's definitely Hajime-san's girlfriend."

"Actually," Kai started hesitantly. "Does anyone know whether Hajime has any siblings?"

"…" Uncertain glances were directed at each other, each waiting for someone else to say something.

"I guess, we don't know..?"

"Hajime never really talks about his family.." Haru added. He really hadn't heard much about the Mutsuki family apart from the fact that they were a well-distinguished traditional family similar to the Shimotsuki family despite spending their high school years together. And he wasn't comfortable asking Hajime about it either, knowing that Hajime used to run away from home. There was a gut feeling that the topic of the Mutsuki family was almost like a landmine for Hajime. Haru had just assumed that they didn't have a good relationship and that was that.

"Are you trying to say that _that_ is a pair of siblings?"

"But! Look at the way she's holding his hand! And they're sharing ice cream cones too! Do siblings do that?!" Kakeru whisper-yelled, barely controlling his hands from flailing about in his agitation.

They all slowly turned their gaze back on the couple they were surreptitiously spying on. True enough, Hajime and the girl beside him were both taking turns to offer their cone to the other and taking a bite. All in all, the duo looked like a normal couple on a date low-key flirting with smiles and indirect kisses.

"They don't look like they're siblings, huh." Kai shrugged helplessly, wordlessly giving up the struggle of trying to argue against the idea of Hajime not having a girlfriend.

"Hey! Where'd they go?"

Shit! While they had been huddled together conferencing, Hajime and the girl had disappeared! _Such a novice mistake!_ Koi wailed mentally. _You never take your attention away from your target!_

Suddenly, a menacing aura washed over them from behind. "Hey."

Shun, fearlessly turning to face the black demon king, drawled with a smirk. "Yo, Hajime, fancy seeing you here! Ah, it must be fate! To have bumped into you like this."

"Y-yeah, what a coincidence! Hey, Hajime!" Kai immediately plastered on a fake grin, sticking a hand up in a wave. The others quickly chimed in with their own waves and nervous laughter, only to wilt at Hajime's unchanging expression. He was obviously not taken in by their feeble excuses nor was he amused.

"So it was you guys." Hajime heaved a long-suffering sigh. "I thought the paparazzi were following me and was on guard.."

He fixed them with a stern look. "I'd expect this from Shun, but from the rest of you too?"

"..."

 _Damn!_ They had no proper reason to say straight to Hajime's face and they couldn't very well just accuse Hajime of hiding his girlfriend from them.. So, they were definitely screwed but luckily, Hajime seemed to have calmed down a little. Actually, he was just shaking his head in a disapproving but fond way. They kind of felt like they were being treated like a fluffy puppy that had gnawed on its owner's shoes.

"Anyway, since you're here, I'll introduce you guys. This is my younger sister, Hanae." At that, the girl - who they had all been eyeing discreetly - edged out from where she had been half hiding behind Hajime. She had initially been a little alarmed by the overwhelming number of good-looking males that had suddenly popped out of nowhere and apparently, had been stalking her and Hajime. Her irritation and wariness had instantly dissipated though, after seeing their drooping heads and kicked puppy looks as they were being scolded by Hajime. They didn't mean any harm, after all.

So, she greeted them with a smile and a polite bow. "Hi, I'm Mutsuki Hanae. Nice to meet you all!"

"..What did you just say?"

"I'm Mutsuki Hanae, nice to meet you all..?" Hanae glanced at her older brother beside her, raising an eyebrow confusedly.

"No, not you! Hajime-san, she's your what?"

"My younger sister."

Hajime delivered the shocking statement that just blew away their theories and reason for the stalking expedition with a deadpan expression. He didn't understand at all the effect of his words on them nor the reason why they were behaving in such a manner. Even the three oldest members were barely preventing their jaws from joining the others on the ground. He was a little amused, though, that he managed to somehow fluster the normally unflappable Shun, who was usually the one who flusters others. Honestly though, wasn't this reaction a little exaggerated? It wasn't as if he had just told them that Six Gravity was disbanding! He had merely introduced his sister!

Haru mentally cried. _I wished I had asked more about his family even if it was a landmine. At least we wouldn't have been blindsided in this kind of way! And we wouldn't have made such a fool out of ourselves!_ But behind the visible embarrassment coloring his face red, there was a little sinking feeling in his chest. He should have known better, should have trusted Hajime more, trusted and waited for him to divulge the things important to him at the time he felt right to. After all, Haru was supposed to be his _support_ ; he wasn't supposed to be sneaking around behind his back to find out his secrets.

"Hajime-nii? Your friends.. they're all kind of ..frozen."

Hajime couldn't help but sigh. "Don't worry about it. It's normal." Well, if she didn't think his friends were weird before, she definitely did now.

* * *

"Hajime, you.. have a sister complex, huh." Kai sniggered. "Can't say I expected it."

Hajime's cheeks tinted red. "Shut up."


End file.
